Hush, don't say a word
by bbyjellow
Summary: When Chuck was awoken at the crack of dawn by an insomniac Raleigh and have to figure out how to coax a man who still had his dead brother haunting his nights.


**Oh my god this is actually the first time I'm posting something after **_**years**_**.**

**Figures it just have to a chaleigh one. Chuck's alive because I refuse to have myself short of cocky aussie baby and honorary mentions of Wei triplets and Kaidonovskys because they're alive and I said so.**

**And sleepy babies because I'm running from my papers for my finals and it's past midnight here.**

* * *

"Chuck?"

There was someone calling his name; a whispered voice so soft he could've been imagining it. Maybe he was, considering he was supposed to be deep in his slumber.

"Chuck."

The voice got louder this time - swirling in his muddled fog of drowsiness and a disgruntled sound escaped his throat. He turned to his side, pressing half the pillow over his ear in hopes to block out whatever the disturbance was.

"Chuuuuuck."

Whoever had called him was sure persistent because not only the voice got louder, it came along with a gentle shake on his shoulder. He grumbled, willing the damned voice to be gone so he could go back to his sleep. But the shaking continued; growing slightly more insistent after every shake and as much as he wanted to ignore it and play dead, his mind was already on 50% awareness. He groaned, knowing it would just be in matter of minutes before he would be up on full alert and he'd definitely have to kiss his beauty sleep good bye. You know what they said about waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to close your eyes again. Such torture.

"_Chuuuuuuuuuck-"_

"The fuck, mate?" Chuck grouched, finally cracking an eye open trying to see just what that had the balls to disturb him.

"Oh, you're awake." The reply had a slight surprise in it and Chuck just had to roll his eyes.

"Hard not to when you shaking me feels like being tossed around by a Kaiju." He grunted, narrowing his eyes as his surrounding slowly became clearer and his mind was a little more coherent.

Even in the darkness of their room, only reduced some by the light seeping from under their bathroom door, Chuck could easily figure out blue eyes and the disheveled blond hair of his partner.

Because of course _Raleigh fucking Becket _would wake him up at ass o'clock. Insomniac bastard.

"Wha'zzit?" He asked, words slightly slurred in his groggy state as he peered up at the blurred form of Raleigh in his lumpy sweater, sitting cross-legged and looking like a sad puppy Chuck just knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep before he managed to get Raleigh to.

"I can't sleep." Raleigh shrugged, just the slight movement of his shoulders in what was supposed to be casual but all Chuck saw was how the shoulders slumped and the air of bone-deep wearyness thickened around Raleigh.

"Go read?" he prompted, squirming around just enough so he could look at the blond more comfortably.

"I've finished the book."

"Read a new book."

"The one I haven't read is with Hermann since yesterday."

"Have a walk?"

"Chuck, it's 3.48."

Right. Nobody would be around at this ungodly hour, especially after the Breach was closed and no more Jaegers to fix. The Shatterdome actually got_ quiet_ as the night went on and the hallways was almost always deserted.

The silence was something he was still in struggle to get on with, considering all the years he had spent surrounded by the endless thump of metals, the hum of every machine existed in the Dome and the countless number of footsteps. After all, he couldn't really blame anyone if most of the crews had gone home to their families now that the imminent treat had been blasted to kingdom come, although those who had served with almost all generations of Jaegers decided to stay a while longer.

So, yeah, where's the fun in taking a night walk with no one to bump into?

"Knit a new sweater?"

That got a very dry look from Raleigh and Chuck had to admit that was kind of a stupid suggestion.

Raleigh sighed, the sound so damn _exhausted_ and Chuck suddenly wanted to bundle the poor bloke in layers of fluffy blankets and sang lullabies to him and that was weird because he _couldn't sing_. Bundling up he could do, if only they had fluffy blankets.

_Focus, Hansen_.

So, now fully awake, he found himself looking into those blue eyes and what he saw there made something in his stomach twisted.

There were nights when Raleigh just couldn't sleep, couldn't have the energy to do anything to tire himself out because at times like this, all that the surviving Becket boy wanted was just to crumble apart a little and just exist for the sake of existing. Sometimes Chuck wondered if Raleigh would really cease to exist if not for Chuck's own insistence to hold on to Raleigh.

That was something he wasn't keen on searching the answer of either.

And looking at the pinched lines around his eyes, it wasn't hard to guess what was going on inside Raleigh's mind at the moment because those baby blues told all that Chuck needed to know.

Tonight, it was Yancy.

Raleigh had told him once that even after all these years - drifting with Mako and thinking he had finally found the piece to fill the gaping hole that was left by his brother (if not entirely, but enough to patch him up), his relationship with Chuck that was definitely heading towards what some would call a 'happy ending' - he could still feel Yancy just over his shoulder, haunting him. There was nothing could be done to stop that, and Raleigh would be wide awake until he crashed on his own the next day.

But Chuck didn't want that. He hated it whenever he saw Raleigh stumbling into the mess hall, dark circles under his eyes and strained smiles. He hated that he couldn't ease the burden, hated how couldn't do anything to chase Yancy's ghost away and let the younger brother to finally have the peace that he so deserved. He sometimes found himself hating the memory of Yancy, but he knew it was very low of him and he knew that it was none of the Becket brothers' fault.

Chuck wondered if he would end up just like Raleigh if it was his dad that had died still connected to him.

Before the thought could spiral down and making the night even worse, Chuck reached out, tugging his partner by the back of his neck.

Raleigh went down willingly, lying next to Chuck and angled his body to slot himself against the other Ranger as Chuck tugged him close. Warm hand settled on Raleigh's hip, the weight a comforting grounder while the other hand found its way into his hair, fingers buried in between tufts of blond hair.

Raleigh couldn't help but tucked his head under the other's chin, his hands closing around the fabric of Chuck's worn out t-shirt as the Australian wrapped the blanket around them both, turning them into a cozy cocoon.

There was something vulnerable whenever the Raleigh folded into Chuck as if trying to make himself as small as possible and it made a special kind of warmth fluttered deep inside Chuck. Raleigh might never say it but Chuck understood the need underlying the action; the desperate need for comfort. And he'd be damned if he denied Raleigh of it.

"Max chewed one of Tendo's bowtie yesterday." Chuck blurted before his mind could catch up, but that earned a snort from the blond so he thought he did okay.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Chuck grinned, absently running his fingers through blond hair. "You should've seen the look on Elvis' face when he found out." Raleigh had been away with Mako in his dad's office probably discussing something official related while Chuck was up in LOCCENT when Tendo honest-to-god screamed when Max trotted in with a shredded bowtie hanging from his muzzle. Chuck would never know just how his dog had acquired the thing, but he had never wished for a camera so bad because the absolutely mortified face of one Tendo Choi was something he would take to his grave.

"And the basketball triplets accidentally bounced their ball at Aleksis' head and the four of them spent the entire afternoon running around the hangar."

Raleigh's shoulders shook in his attempt to hold his laugh but a little chuckle escaped anyway. "Did Aleksis get them?"

"Nah, those three managed to somehow tripped over their own damn feet, running down a few techies on their way and finally ended up in the medbay. Sprained ankle, cracked wrists, and a broken nose. And Papa Russia seemed satisfied enough with the outcome so he left them in medical." Chuck sniggered at the memory still a fresh replay in his mind. Trust the triplets to endanger themselves in a game of chase.

Chuck could feel Raleigh's hair tickling the skin above his collarbones when the older Ranger shook his head. "How come I didn't know about this?"

"You were busy with the boring part, old man." There was a teasing note to Chuck's voice and Raleigh poked his ribs in spite.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up, kid." Raleigh smiled against Chuck's neck and dragged his hand upwards to wrap his fingers around Chuck's upper arm, pressing his cheek against Chuck's chest.

Neither of them spoke for the next beats, simply enjoying each other's presence and the comfortable silence around them. Chuck found himself massaging Raleigh's scalp lightly, occasionally gripping his hair in a way that usually would make the older moaned during their many love-making sessions, but this time it was more a gentle pressure than an actual foreplay. He could practically feel the tension slowly dissipate from Raleigh and Chuck's fingers trailed downwards to gently press his thumb against the blond's temple, rubbing and stroking along his brow to erase the tense lines.

It seemed to work when Raleigh's shoulders relaxed and a contented sigh escaped him.

Feeling himself starting to drift off (because a calm Raleigh had that effect on him), Chuck pressed his nose into Raleigh's hair, breathing in the scent of shampoo and a hum vibrated low in his throat.

He didn't realize when the hum continued, forming into melodies of a lullaby from another life time when his mother was still alive and would envelop little Chuck in her arms as she hummed him to sleep. It was nothing special; accidental notes his mother made up by herself but still it brought the memory of unconditional love.

The love he had been feeling since three months ago.

The faint tickles of Raleigh's eyelashes fanning against his throat told him the other was still awake, but he could feel it slowed, a sluggish sweep against his skin and Raleigh's breathing starting to even out. Chuck allowed himself to close his eyes, fingers stroking on autopilot along the longer hair at the older's nape.

Just about he was ready to doze off, Raleigh called. "Chuck?"

"Go the fuck to sleep, Becket." He grumbled. There was no heat in those words because he knew Raleigh knew he was about to succumb to sleep and called just to be a little shit.

He was proven right when he felt the stretch of Raleigh's smile against his collarbones.

There was no flare of annoyance whatsoever though, just the relaxing buzz of contentment that was slowly dragging him into the dreamworld. But before he clocked out, he felt Raleigh's breathing evened out as the blond finally dozed off, the ghost of smile still on his face and Chuck still felt it whispering against his skin through his shirt.

And Chuck drifted off.


End file.
